


The Aftermath of the mid-season finale

by Harleneq



Category: Charmed (TV 2018)
Genre: Anger, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Boxing, F/M, Fights, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:29:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21723013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harleneq/pseuds/Harleneq
Summary: Macy fights/ talks through her anger and her feelings over watching Harry and Abigael kiss.just my little take on how Macy feels the day after and how she finds comfort in two unexpected people.also, just an idea of how the Julian character is introduced and how he potentially forms a bond with one of the sisters. this will 100% be shot to all hell by canon when the show returns but oh well.
Relationships: Harry Greenwood & Abigael Caine, Harry Greenwood & Macy Vaughn & Maggie Vera & Mel Vera, Harry Greenwood/Macy Vaughn, Macy Vaughn & Jordan Chase, Macy Vaughn & Maggie Vera & Mel Vera, Macy Vaughn/Julian, Macy Vaughn/Julian Shea
Comments: 12
Kudos: 56





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am still absolutely hurt by Harry's action so i'm working them out through Macy. I feel like she is pretty ooc in this fic but I also feel like I can kind of get away with it because of all the emotions she currently facing and has to work through. Anyways, please enjoy! :)
> 
> Also, i'm supposed to be working on a different fic I posted literally yesterday? yeet

Harry’s face. That’s what Macy was thinking about as she threw punches as hard as she could into the punching bag. _God, how could I be so stupid?_ She thought as she threw another punch.

She could feel the sweat practically dripping down her forehead, but she didn’t stop. She was too angry, upset, heartbroken- she didn’t even know what she was feeling anymore, she was such a messed-up ball of feelings. So instead she channelled all her feelings into her punches.

Mel had said that Harry had confessed his feelings for Macy to her. Well he obviously got over very quickly. She had been filled with child-like excitement walking to the command centre to find Harry and finally talk out their feelings but had walked into something that seemed to stem straight from her insecurities and jealousy. Barely even three steps into the command centre and she’d looked down to see Harry in a full-blown lip lock with Abigael Jameson-Caine herself.

She had been stuck in that spot for a moment because of the shock and then overwhelming pain, only being able to watch the two lost in each other. After a few moments watching them, Macy had finally been able to move from her spot and walk out. Neither Harry nor Abigael had even noticed her.

Walking out of Safe Space and quickly making her way home, she couldn’t help but think it all finally made sense. Abigael’s continuous flirting and Harry’s constant defence of her despite her being a literal cold-blooded _murderer_. Hell, she had even made an attempt at Macy’s life but that obvious didn’t matter to him as he shoved his tongue down her throat.

Despite what all her logic was telling her, that he wasn’t worth it, Macy had ended up crying herself to sleep that night, the visual of Harry and Abigael etched into her memory.

She’d woken up early that morning, eyes red and a little puffy. The sun had just barely risen, the house and the street almost pin-drop quiet. Even the cars already on the road seemed barely make a sound. Macy had found herself changing into gym clothes and grabbing boxing gloves and her gym bag that were still next to her door, there had been no time to fully pack it all away after her last use of it. When she and Harry had worked together to get Jordan’s ring.

Macy shook her head; she didn’t want to think about Harry or his betrayal of not only her but her sisters too. So when she had arrived at the Safe Space gym, she had quickly used an unlocking spell on the gym doors and made a bee line for the punching bag, quickly wrapping her hands in bandages and putting on her gloves before giving the poor unsuspecting bag a taste of her anger. She had started punching and she couldn’t stop, her hands continuously going at it. Her arms were tense, beginning to tire at the exertion of the exercise but she just used it as momentum to continue going. The physical pain was nothing compared to the emotional pain of seeing Harry and Abigael together. Harry and Abigael. Harry and Abigael. Harry and fucking Abigael. Macy threw one last hard punch causing the bag to shake harder than from any previous punch before shoving the gloves off her hands, throwing them across the gym and angrily wiping the tears she hadn’t even realised had started up again.

“Macy?” she whipped around to see Jordan standing by the door. “Leave some punching bag for the rest of us, yeah?” he unceremoniously dropped his bag on the bench near the door before taking a seat next to it. “Unless, of course, you’re willing to pay for the potential damages to that bag or even just a new bag in general, then really, don’t let anyone hold you back.” He wasn’t even looking at her, he was too busy changing into a different pair of gym-friendly shoes. “I mean, I personally prefer you hitting a bag as opposed to me.” Macy felt a pang of guilt thinking back on her solid punch straight into Jordan’s face barely even four days ago.

“I am sorry about that, Jordan.” Jesus, even her voice sounded like she had spent the entire night crying (which she admittedly had). She quickly turned before Jordan could look at her face and see what she assumed was a red nose and puffy eyes. She made her way to her haphazardly discarded gloves while trying to sneakily wipe her face of fresh tears.

“Yeah well, already forgotten about. I must admit, I've experienced some things in the past couple of days, well, more specifically last twelve hours, that are higher up on my priority list.” Macy’s shoulders dropped at that. More bad news it seemed. I can’t catch a break, can I? She dropped her gloves on top of her gym bag and sighed before turning to Jordan.

“You remembered.” It wasn’t a question. “I can explain everything-” Jordan put a hand to stop her from talking. When she wasn’t looking he had wrapped bandages around his hands in the same manner as her own.

“I don’t really want to talk right now.” He grabbed his own gloves out his bag. “I know you can hold up your own. I now have an idea as to why.” The last part was muttered under his breath, but Macy still heard it. “Let’s spar.” He looked at her expectantly when she just stood watching her. “Look, you're obviously going through something right now and I know throwing some punches usually makes me feel a little better. And, watching your show earlier it looks like it’s an out for you too. I can guarantee you that a moving target that punches back will distract you more than a stationary punching bag.” He put his gloves on, tightened the straps against his wrists and gave her a look that was an obvious challenge.

Well, Macy accepted. She picked up her own gloves and quickly put them on.

“If I can ask,” Jordan started as they circled each other, both obviously trying to read the others’ obvious tells. Macy’s left leg was obviously the weaker one, so Jordan knew that’s the side he was going to go for. Macy however saw the flex of his right hand and prepared herself for the attack that was obviously going to come for her left side.

“Yeah- yes. Ask anything.” Macy was ready for big question pertaining to magic and powers and all other but instead he asks, “Why are in my gym at six thirty?” she was momentarily stumped at his question and he took the opening a threw a punch at her but she quickly avoided it at the last second.

“That was cheap shot.”

“So was the one to my face.” He gave her a look and they resumed circling each other. “But I do still want to know why you’re here so early. And how you got in.”

“The door was unlocked.”

“No, it wasn’t.” Macy threw a punch, aiming it his ribs. Jordan jumped back avoiding it and threw his own punch which she missed by swinging her head down. “I locked it last night. I didn’t want any more… magical people fighting in my work-space.”

“Nothing’s ever really locked.” Was the cryptic answer she gave him before landing a punch to his left shoulder. He took a step back to balance himself.

“Good job.” He rolled his shoulders before they continued circling each other. “Still doesn’t explain why you're here though. Is it the same reason why you're crying?”

That just reignited the rage and hurt in Macy and she threw a series of punches of which she only landed two. She wasn’t surprised at the bad performance as she wasn’t actually putting thought into her movements, just letting her anger lead the way.

“That touched something deep down didn’t it?”

“No more talking.” She used her arms to wipe her face, was it sweat, tears? She didn’t know. “You said you wanted to spar? Lets spar.” He raised an eyebrow but kept quiet. And spar they did.  
Despite Macy having arrived at the gym a full hour before Jordan she was like a machine. Her rage over yesterdays events keeping her going. She assumed Jordan wanting to avoid thinking about the confusing events was what kept him going. They fought for almost two hours in mostly silence however despite the fact that this was a sparring match, Jordan was still a teacher and would correct Macy’s form if she made a mistake to make sure she didn’t actually hurt herself. They took a few short, silent breaks in between to drink water and wipe away their sweat. They only stopped when a substantial amount of who she assumed were Jordan’s gym members had arrived and were just watching the two go at each other. They both had bruises forming where the other had landed a particularly hard punch, but it barely even slowed them down.

Macy landed one particularly hard punch at his chin and Jordan stumbled back, holding up a hand to stop her. The other people in the gym clapped assuming the fight was over, and that Macy had won. They both realised at that point that they should probably stop before one of them actually got hurt. Jordan stood straight up and flexed his jaw before walking to her and tapping her gloves with his own.

"Two for two." Macy said and Jordan just rolled his eyes and shook his head. 

“Good fight.” He said it loud enough for everyone in the room to hear and take as a cue to go about the rest of their day. More than half the people didn’t even end up in the gym, they were just Safe Space employees and visitors who’d heard of the fight and had wanted to watch. The next thing he said however, he leaned down to whisper in her ear, “I do want to talk about last night eventually. There’s a lot you need to explain.” He leaned back to look her in the eye before giving her a nod and walking to his bag, the conversation was clearly over.

Macy made her way to her own bag, unstrapping her gloves and placing them into it. She removed the bandages on her hand and threw them into the bad too. A few people congratulated her as they walked past, stating how impressed by her fighting skills they were. She threw her bag over her shoulders and wiped her face then hands with her towel, throwing a few random thank you’s to people who tried to stop her as she made her way out of the gym.

She had only made it halfway down the stairs when she was stopped by a voice. “That was an impressive fight back there.” She turned to see a man standing three steps above her. He took the opportunity to close the distance between them and walked down to the stair she stood on. He was tall. This much was obvious as he stood maybe half a foot taller than her. He had a strong, angular face and his fairly long hair was gelled back, but a lock of hair fallen and framing his face. Macy couldn’t tell if he’d done it on purpose or not.

“Thanks.” She gave him a quick half-assed smile and continued down the stairs, but he followed her down.

“Do you and your boyfriend always physically fight it out when you're arguing?” she gave him an incredulous look at his question. “Sorry, my friends say I can ask rather inappropriate questions.” He shoved his hands into his pants pockets and gave a shrug.

“No offence, but I think your friends are right.” That came out a lot ruder than Macy had intended, and whilst she may angry at Harry this man had done nothing wrong to her, besides maybe striking up unnecessary conversation. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be so rude.” She made her way to the coffee station and the man continued on next to her.

“I’ll accept your apology if you accept mine.” Macy gave him a nod. “Now that that’s out of the way, am I correct?” he was obviously referring to his earlier question. Macy rolled her eyes and called over the barista who made an indication that he’d be there in a moment.

“It isn’t any of your business but, Jordan is not my boyfriend.” Macy didn't know why she was even entertaining any part of this conversation.

“Hi, Macy.” Carl, the barista who was currently on shift greeted her. “Your usual, double shot espresso?”

“Make it a triple.” Carl nodded and walked off to make her drink.

“A triple, long day ahead?” the annoying man was still there. He didn’t let her answer that question as he diverted the conversation back. “He isn’t? Whilst it was just a sparring match, it did seem very personal.” Macy couldn’t believe the man was still talking.

“He’s… a family friend. A lot has happened in the past few days and we both needed to blow off some steam.” She hoped this would be enough and that he would finally leave her alone because whilst he wasn’t really harassing her in any way, she didn’t want to talk to anyone right now.

“Hmm,” the man hummed and leaned against the counter. “Must have been something big because your punches were no joke. Are you a professional?”

“I get a lot of practise.” Was her answer. She hoped that if she gave short enough answers he would take the hint and leave her alone. Instead he grinned with glee.

“Ooh, cryptic.” He bumped her shoulder with his own and asked cheekily, “Are you an international spy or something?” Macy couldn’t keep the small smile in, his goofy behaviour was amusing.

“Or something.”

“Your coffee, Macy.” Carl placed the cup with her name down in front of her. She went to grab her purse from her bag but the mans next words stopped her.

“Put her drink on my tab.” Carl gave the man double finger guns and walked off to serve other customers. Macy wanted to argue that she could’ve bought her own drink but decided to take the free gift and just move on.

“Thank you.” She simply said and grabbed her cup, turning around and walking away but she should’ve known it wouldn’t have been so simple with this man. He just walked right next to her, humming a little tune under his breath. “Look…” Macy didn’t even know the man’s name.

“Julian.” He offered with a smile.

“Okay, Julian. I don’t know what you want but how about you just get it out and then we can go about our days?” Macy stopped them in between a few tables and chairs. She knew she definitely coming off as rude but right then she didn’t care. She had had a difficult last forty-eight hours, had had her heart broken and was currently functioning on very little sleep and all she wanted to do was get away from everyone and everything but this man, Julian wouldn’t even give her that little bit of peace.

“I don’t really want anything; I just find you fascinating.” Macy let out a bark of laughter at that.

“You find me fascinating so you decided to follow me around? I’m sorry to tell you but that screams big stalker vibes.” She turned to walk away but he grabbed her elbow to stop her. When she turned back to face him he immediately let go and apologised for the unwarranted touch.

“Look, Macy. I just, it’s obvious you’re very angry about something. I could listen if you need someone to talk to.” Macy gave him a deadpan expression at that.

“I’m supposed to just vent out my anger and frustrations to a complete stranger. Really?”

Julian took a seat at the nearest table before pointing at her and asking, “Therapists?”

“You’re not a therapist.” Macy folded her arms over chest.

“You don’t know that.” He gave her a shrug and placed his right ankle on his left knee, getting comfortable in the seat. “You don’t know anything about me. I don’t know anything about you. This can just be two strangers, one venting, the other listening for a few minutes. Then we walk away, and we never have to see each other ever again.”

Despite her better judgement, Macy took a seat, put her coffee on the table and placed her bag in the free seat next to her. “Do you not work here?” she asked him.

“I do work here. Just started last week in fact.”

“Then we will in fact see each other again.”

“Okay, let me rephrase.” He scratched his goatee for a moment, thinking. “Neither of us will ever have to approach the other again. We don’t have to acknowledge we’ve ever met before or that we’ve spoken. We’ll be strangers once again.”

Macy chewed on her bottom lip thinking about the terms of what he was proposing. On any other day she would’ve just said goodbye and never thought about it or him again but today, after the hellish past few days she had had she did need someone to talk to. Julian could be it, even if it was just for a few minutes. Harry was usually person she went when she needed to talk to someone, but he hadn’t been that for a few weeks now. “Do you accept those terms, Macy…?” he was obviously waiting for her to fill in the blank of her surname, but she just continued looking at him. He grinned at that. “You don’t trust me.” It was a statement he said with a shrug. “That’s alright, you never have to. But do you accept?”

She took a big swig of her coffee and nodded. She couldn’t understand why she was even buying into any of this random strangers’ words. “Yes.”

“Fantastic.” He leaned back and threw a hand over the back of his chair. “What’s your story, Miss Macy?”

Macy had to be careful how she phrased everything she said, being sure to leave out all and any magical references essentially saying that she and her sisters had moved to Seattle after the deaths of all their parents. How things had been everchanging since their move and how alone she felt now, despite for the first time in her life actually being surrounded by a loving family. She left out any names and locations so that he couldn’t potentially track them back as the three supposedly dead sisters from Hilltown. She hesitated to continue and talk about Harry, her real biggest emotional issue right now but Julian gently coaxed it out of her.

“C’mon, Miss Macy. I know there’s more to this story.”

“Well, there’s this guy.” He nodded in understanding.

“Ah. And he’s not Jordan?” he had to be sure.

“No, he’s uh, another family friend.”

“You seem to have a lot of those.” Macy just shrugged. “Well, this guy who’s a family friend and not Jordan?”

“Yes well. Um, how do I put this?”

“Any way you need to.”

“I suppose you're right.” Macy took a big gulp of her now cool coffee and grimaced slightly. “Well, he came into my life at about the same time my sisters did. He was, he was a rock for me. I always knew I could go to him if I ever had any problems and I hoped that he knew that I was willing to be the same for him. Well, um, it came about last year that he had feelings for me, and we agreed that we would just forget about it and move on but…”

“But you didn’t forget?” Julian offered when she was lost for words.

“No, I didn’t.” Macy said on a quiet sigh. “I um, actually came to reciprocate those feelings. It took me a while to figure out but when I did it was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. Everything in the past couple of months, every conversation, every interaction, it all made sense. And when I found out he had told my sisters that he has feelings for me just last week I got excited.” She took the last sip of her coffee and sighed. “I actually went to tell him last night.”

Julian leaned his arms on the table, his face more sombre, obviously having an idea of where the story was going.

“I found him making out with another woman.” She said quietly.

“Oh, Macy.” He grabbed her hand in a comforting manner and she let him. “I’m so sorry.”

“The worst part was who he kissed. I don’t trust her; I've never trusted her, and I've continuously voiced this. I kept telling him that. She’s dangerous, she doesn’t care about anyone but herself. She doesn’t care who she hurts to get what she wants. I mean she tried to kill me!” seeing Julian’s shocked face, Macy knew she had to go back and fix the hole she almost dug herself into. “Metaphorically of course.” Julian nodded but she saw in his eyes he was a bit sceptical. “She’s continued to hurt my sisters and I. She’s lied to us and yet somehow during all of this she sunk her claws into him, and he couldn’t even see it. It’s just- why her? Why her and not anybody else? If he wasn’t interested in me, fine. But why did he have to go for the one person who’s truly hurt our family the most in the past few months?” Macy felt the tears start up again and was mildly shocked, she had been sure she was all cried out.

Julian whipped out a pocket square from his blazer pocket and handed it to her to wipe her face, clutching her free hand in both of his. “Oh, Miss Macy…” while he wanted her to go into more specifics about how she had been hurt by this other woman, he knew he had gotten all he would from her and accepted that. “Now, I don’t know this ‘family friend’ of yours but I can tell you, nobody, especially someone as beautiful and kind as you deserves to be hurt by anyone, especially someone they care about, like you have. This family friend, doesn’t deserve your heart, Miss Macy.”

“How can you say all that about me? Like you said, we don’t know each other.” Julian gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

“I can see the kindness in your eyes. And your beauty… it’s obvious for anyone to see. Inside and out.” He gave her a cheeky wink.

Macy wiped her eyes again with a little laugh. “Thank you for this. You’re a good listener.” She went to hand him back the pocket square, but he stopped her.

“Keep it. You may never have the pleasure of my company again, keep it as a memento.” He gave her another wink and she fully laughed this time at the ridiculousness of this man.

“Thank you, Julian. I’ll treasure this beautiful gift forever.” He stood and held out a hand to her to help her up. She took his hand, grabbed her bag and stood.

“You should put some ice on your bruises.” Only when he pointed at her exposed torso did she realise that he meant it literally. And he was right, she had a pretty big, nasty bruise forming on her ribs.

“Yeah, I will.” He looked at her face for a moment before smiling. “What?”

“Nothing, Miss Macy.” He looked at his watch and cringed a little bit. “If you will bid me adieu, I do believe I'm over half an hour late to my meeting.”

“Oh no, I'm so sorry for keeping you, I didn’t realise it had been so long!” he waved off her words.

“Never apologise for gifting someone your time, Miss Macy, I do believe it’s a precious treasure.” She blushed a little bit at that. He gently took her hand laid a quick kiss to it, shocking Macy. He gave her a wink and a smile.

“Thank you, for listening to me.” He gave her a two-finger salute as he walked backwards.

“It was only my pleasure, Miss Macy.” He gave her a bow and she rolled her eyes. “I’ll speak to you never again!” she was sure he gave her a wink before turning around fulling and sprinting up the stairs, presumedly upstairs to the meeting he was very late for.

Macy smiled as she turned to walk away. Whilst the talk with the mysterious man, Julian, may not have been what she wanted, it turned out to be exactly what she needed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> long wait, short chapter, i'm sorry! hope y'all enjoy regardless!

Walking through the command centre door erased any lingered relief or joy Macy felt as she was immediately transported back to the night before. She tried to shake off the memories of Harry and Abigael as she carefully walked down the stairs and made her way to the seat by the big table in front of the map. Her muscles, joints, and bruises especially were finally starting to ache; she suspected it had to do with the fact that the adrenaline had long since started making its way out of her system and she had no one to distract her from the pain, both emotionally and physically. 

She gently sank into the seat and threw her bag down next to her, wincing as the bruise on her ribs started to throb. She gently placed the pocket square she hadn’t noticed she was still clutching on the table in front of her. The Julian man had been a surprising but eventual welcome intrusion on her day. Macy hadn’t realised just how badly she had needed to talk to someone about everything going on in her life. And whilst sure, she hadn’t been able to tell him everything, for obvious reasons, it had been a relief to tell him what she had been able to. 

The command centre door opened loudly but Macy ached too much to turn around to see who it was. There were really only three people it could be, either of her sisters or Harry. Or Abigael. It seemed the half-demon was now welcome in and out of the command centre as she wished. Macy just hoped it wasn’t either of the latter, she didn’t think she had it in her to face either of them at this point, the betrayal from Harry still a fresh wound. 

“Macy? Is that you?” There was a great sense of relief when she realised it was Maggie. She had unintentionally been avoiding her sisters since last night, not wanting to talk about how disastrously the meeting with Harry had gone, or well, hadn’t gone.

“Yeah, Maggs, it’s just me.” Her voice even sounded like she was pain, which she was. 

“Are you okay? You don’t sound fine.” Macy heard the clang of heels against metal as Maggie quickly made her way down the stairs. “Oh my god, Macy! What the hell happened to you?” Macy assumed Maggie had seen the bruises forming on her skin. 

“Nothing, Maggie. I’m fine.” Maggie reached her just as she finished her sentence and Macy turned to face her. Maggie’s arms were crossed over her chest and her foot was tapping on the floor. Her facial expression said she clearly did not believe that Macy was fine. 

“Nothing?! Macy you are covered in bruises!” she poked the forming bruise on Macy’s shoulder and Macy winced. “See? Someone who is ‘fine’ doesn’t wince because they were touched.” Macy stood, trying to quieten the grunt she made but suspected that Maggie had heard it, if her facial expression was anything to go by. She placed both hands on Maggie’s shoulders and looked her in the eye. 

“Maggie, I’m fine, okay? It’s just a couple of bruises. You think I’m bad, you should see the other guy.” Macy’s joke had no effect on Maggie, who’s crossed arms and hard face showed no amusement. The small smile on Macy’s face dropped at that. 

“Macy, no offence, but you look terrible. Tell me you weren’t fighting demons on your own?” Maggie’s eyebrow drew together.

“No, no. No demons, I swear.” Maggie took a step back, letting Macy’s hands fall, and looked her up and down. 

“You’re in gym clothes? Mace, did you go looking for a fight? Macy what the hell?” 

Macy groaned and sat back in the chair. “The last few days have been a lot and I needed a stress relief, that’s all.” 

“That’s all? Macy, if you’re going through something you talk about, you don’t go starting fights. That is never the answer.” 

“Maggie, we fight demons every day.”

“That is different, and you know it.” She pulled out a chair and sat in front of Macy. “Look, I just lost my fiancé last night. And yes, whilst he did go crazy right at the end and I did technically end the engagement and run away from the wedding before he died, he was still someone I cared about. I don’t need to lose another person I care about because they recklessly started fights.” 

“Oh, Maggs…” Macy took her hands in her own. “I’m so sorry, I haven’t even asked how you were doing today.” 

“How could you, you were off in some fight. Macy, do you understand that you could have died? If whoever you were fighting threw one wrong punch that could have been the end of you.” 

“They wouldn’t have done that.”

“You don’t know that. Who were you fighting anyways?”

Macy looked away. She didn’t know if it was a good idea to tell Maggie it was Jordan. Her emotions seemed a little all over the place and she couldn’t blame her. Maggie had just lost someone, and she was grieving. But then again, she could do or say something to Jordan in the heat of the moment and end regretting it. “It doesn’t matter.” She didn’t look at Maggie’s face, but she knew it wouldn’t be a pleased one. “To add to the list of crappy things going on in our lives right now; Jordan wants answers about last night.” Macy made an unsubtle change of topic.

Maggie groaned, tilting her head back and slouching into the chair. “Part of me was hoping the hit to the head made him forget.” She sighed. “What’s the action plan? Do we tell him about witches and demons and the whole lot, or do we just have Harry wipe his memory of it all?” 

The mention of Harry’s name brought a new wave of hurt Macy didn’t even know existed. Part of Macy wanted to erase the memory of Harry and Abigael’s kiss but the bigger part of her needed to remember it. She needed to remember not only that Harry wasn’t meant for her, but also that there was no one she could really trust anymore besides her sisters. Their whitelighter, her confidant, he was compromised. His kiss with Abigael last night was a betrayal to all of them. How could he do that to them? Had he not remembered the pain, and almost murder, Abigael Caine had caused the three sisters? Or did he just not care? 

Looking at Maggie’s face, Macy wondered how she was even going to broach the subject. Should she even? Or was Harry going to tell them himself? Maggie looked at her expectantly and Macy realised she still hadn’t answered the question. “Uh, I don’t know.” She wiped her hands down her face. “We have to decide as a collective.” 

“Yeah, that’s probably best.” Maggie nodded in agreement. “Wait, how did the ta-” her phones ping interrupted what she was about to say next. She quickly read whatever notification was on her screen before nodding and looking at Macy. “Mel said she and Harry are walking to the command centre now.” Macy’s eyes widened. She wasn’t ready to face him yet. She knew by Maggie’s reaction to him, and the fact that Mel was on her way here with them that he hadn’t told either of them about his actions the night prior. 

“Wait, what? Like, now?” Maggie looked rightly concerned at Macy’s panic. 

“Yeah, Mace, what’s wrong with that? You would’ve seen them later regardless. Harry needs to heal you.” 

Macy shook her head but before either of them could say anything else the door opened to reveal Mel and Harry. Harry looked… bad. He had bags under his eyes, his hair was a messed up and his clothing was missing it's freshly ironed look. He looked like he hadn’t slept at all. Macy wanted to feel bad for him but then remembered her own night filled with tears and feelings of heartbreak and betrayal. 

“Morning, Macy.” Mel called down as she and Harry made their way down the stairs and towards her and Maggie. “Where were you this morning? We missed you at- Macy what the hell?” Mel had just stepped off the stairs and had gotten close enough to see the bruising on Macy. “Was there an attack? Why didn’t you call for backup?” she rushed the few remaining steps to Macy, Harry following closely behind. 

“There was no attack per say.” Mel turned to Maggie when she spoke. Maggie crossed her arms and continued. “Macy sought out that fight herself.” Mel’s head whipped back to look at Macy. 

Macy closed her eyes for a moments and sighed. “Thank you for that, Maggie.” She wasn’t mad at her sister for calling her out, she knew she was just worried about her. 

“Since when have you become someone who just randomly starts fights?” Harry spoke for the first time since he’d entered. 

Macy momentarily found herself looking over the tired features of Harry’s face, her mind flashing back to the night before where he had looked like he was in pure ecstasy in Abigael’s embrace. She cleared her throat and looked away. “Extreme enough situations can change us into people we may not recognise anymore.” 

“But, Macy, starting fights? That has never been you.” Mel looked confused and Macy couldn’t blame her. 

“It doesn’t matter. We have bigger issues.” Mel’s face showed her disapproval of Macy’s deflecting, but she let her continue, eyes saying they would one hundred percent pick this up later. 

“Wait,” Macy drew a breath at Harry’s demand thinking that he was about to admit to locking lips with a murderer, but his following statement was directed at only her. “Before we continue, let me at least heal you.” He stepped towards her, reaching for her but she flinched back. Harry looked shocked at her recoil from his touch, looking from the corner of her eye, Maggie and Mel did too. “Macy…” his hand dropped down a little but stayed in the air within reach of Macy, but he made no move to actively touch her. 

“Don’t…” her own hand came up as a physical block to show she didn’t want or need his touch. She couldn’t bear the thought of his touch when just hours ago he had been wrapped around Abigael Caine. “Don’t come near me.” 

“Macy, you’re hurt.” Maggie spoke, more concern growing on her face at her refusal for help. 

“I’m fine. I don’t need to be healed.” Seeing all three about to fight her decision she thought up a reasonable enough excuse. “Look, a whole bunch of Safe Space employees have already seen me injured this morning. How would I explain being completely healed and bruise free not even three hours later?” Maggie and Harry reluctantly accepted her reasoning, but Mel looked like she smelt bull. Macy looked away avoiding her gaze and continued on. “Like I was saying, we have bigger issues.” At this statement Mel sighed and grabbed a chair, taking a seat next to Maggie. 

“What more could we possibly have to deal with?” Mel muttered. 

“Jordan wants answers about last night.” 

Mel groaned and Harry let out a tired sigh. 

“Yeah,” Macy agreed. “So, what do we do? Can we trust Jordan with this?”

“I don’t know. How do we know he wont use this against us in the future?” Mel’s point was a valid one.

“No,” Maggie argued. “ Jordan wouldn’t do that.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Because, Mel, that’s not the kind of guy he is.”

“Maggs,” Macy interjected. “I agree he seems like a nice guy but let’s be real, we don’t know him, and we don’t actually know if we can trust him or not.” 

“Okay, well, have you guys thought about the fact that he has had a magical ring in his family for multiple generations? He could already know about magical beings.” 

“Well,” Harry spoke up. “Let me remind us all of the fact that that family he comes from also has a proven history of being witch hunters. He could support that ideology and want to kill you all. We don’t know that he won’t betray you guys in the future.” Macy scoffed out loud at that. “What?”

“I just think it’s hypocritical of you to have reservations about Jordan who could potentially be a witch killer but have no problem with an actual proven one.” 

“Excuse me, Macy, but what exactly is that supposed to mean?” He crossed his arms over his chest and turned to fully face her. 

“I don’t know, Harry, it just seems like you're rather close to cold blooded murderer Abigael Caine these days.” 

“Of course, not! That’s preposterous. It would be silly to trust just anyone who walks into our lives.” He made no comment to the fact that Abigael was a murderer. 

“Guys,” Mel’s interruption was curt. “Harry isn’t wrong. We can’t trust everyone that walks into our lives. We won’t always know who’s a potential enemy and who isn’t. Any information we give anyone could be used to hurt us.” Mel wasn’t looking at her, but it felt like her words were directly straight at Macy. 

Macy had flashbacks to earlier that morning to her conversation with Julian. She had told him a lot. If he tried hard enough he could possibly track back all that information to Hilltown. It wouldn’t be difficult to figure out their names from there on. It also wouldn’t take more than two braincells to realise that the Vera-Vaughn sisters had not, in fact, died in a fire in their home. They were very much alive and well right there in Seattle. Macy sweated to think how badly that could go. He could go straight to the police and report them for faking their deaths. He could even use that as blackmail. Jesus Christ, she had really messed up. Yes, she had been more vulnerable that morning but that was no excuse for potentially blowing all theirs covers in a span of minutes to a complete stranger. She had to find out more about the man and whether or not he was a threat to the safety of hers and her sisters. She’d rather nip this problem at the bud than let it progress any further. She looked at Harry out of the corner of her eye. 

“Okay, all we’ve done is go back and forth,” Macy massaged her temples feeling a headache forming. “What are we actually going to do?” 

“I don’t know.” Mel’s exhaustion was apparent through her sigh. “Maybe we should-” she was interrupted by the switchboard going off. “Great timing.” She muttered. 

“We should go.” Macy could keep down the groan or keep the grimace off of her face as she stood up. 

“You are not going anywhere.” Maggie left no room for argument in her tone. “You are only risking your own life going out there.” 

“Well if I don’t, who will?”

“I will.” They all turned to Mel. “Well, I got a new active power yesterday.”

“An active power you don’t know how to use properly yet.” Macy gave her a look. 

“No time like the present to learn.” Macy and Maggie looked like they were going to argue but Mel just raised a hand. “Look, there’s no time to argue. Macy is hurt, I have an active power and a fanny pack full of potions,” she patted the bag across her chest. “I’ll take Harry with me, I’ll be fine.” Maggie and Macy looked at each other before slowly nodding. 

“Okay.” Macy response was quiet. 

“Good. Let’s go, Harry.” She focused the map to the red dot and opened the portal. Harry grabbed the bead and they were gone. 

While Macy wasn’t happy being side-lined, she was glad she didn’t have to be alone with Harry on a mission, she didn’t know if she would have been able to handle that. She wasn’t completely comfortable sending Mel on a mission with him alone, his betrayal still fresh in her mind. Whilst she didn’t think he would purposefully hurt her; she didn’t know where his mind (or his priorities) were and that made him a little dangerous to her. 

Harry didn’t even look like he was going to acknowledge his actions yesterday and Macy decided that if he didn’t do it, she would bring it up herself. But only after the looming day ahead. The day promised to be a long and tiring one, she was glad she ordered a triple espresso because she had a lot to do. And the thing at the top of that long list was finding out who the mysterious Julian was and whether or not he was a threat to her family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> took a while to get this up and I haven't properly edited it, so i'm sorry if there were mistakes but I am half falling asleep lol. i'll probably go back and re-edit this when i'm not nodding off at my laptop


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: this is not beta'd and I did a quick breeze through so there may be (likely) are mistakes

Macy had to find out more about Julian but to do that she at least needed his surname. Trying to search up just the name Julian would get her nowhere, there were probably a few million Julian’s in the world. So instead of wasting time she decided to go see as close to an expert on him as she could. Well, really the only person she knew that seemed to be familiar enough with the man. 

“Carl, hi.” She had luckily caught him at a quiet time for the coffee station. 

“Macy, what can I do you for? Another triple shot espresso? Or maybe a double this time to keep you calm?” Macy gave him a polite laugh in response to what she assumed was a joke. 

“Uh no, actually, I’d like some information?” Carl raised an eyebrow at this and threw his towel over his shoulder. 

“Information?” he leaned forward on the counter dividing them. “What kind can I offer you?” 

“Just a name.” Carl’s knowing smile only served to confuse Macy. 

“Ah, and would that name happen to be the surname of a certain Julian you were speaking to this morning?” 

“Well, yes but not in the way you're thinking. I just-”

“No need to explain to me, Macy.” He held his hands up with a wide grin on his face. “His name is Julian Shea. Google him.” 

“Thank you, Carl.” She gave him a smile and was about to turn around when he stopped her. 

“For the record, I think he could like you.” He gave her a cheeky wink and went off to serve another customer. 

Luckily for Mel and Harry, the emergency was a low-level demon trying to attack a witch. They had gotten there before he could actually hurt her and had easily defeated him with a potion from Mel’s fanny pack. Mel wasn’t going to lie and say she wasn’t disappointed at the fact that she hadn’t gotten an opportunity to use her powers. 

“That was an easy one, huh?” Mel spoke as they walked out of the witch’s home after safely escorting her there. “We were pretty lucky for that, I’d say.”

When Harry didn’t respond she turned to face him. He had a faraway look in his eyes and had obviously not heard what she’d said. 

“Okay, Harry. What the hell is wrong with you?” she put her hand on his arm to stop him. 

He blinked and looked at her like he was seeing her for the first time. “What?” 

“I said, what the hell is wrong with you? You have been completely off all morning.” He had that faraway look in his eyes again. “Harry?” She snapped her fingers in front of his face. “You and Macy’s talk couldn’t have possibly gone that badly, could it?” 

“What? Macy and I’s talk?” He looked genuinely confused. “What are you on about, Melanie?” 

“Did you and Macy not speak last night?” Now Mel was confused. “She said she was going to speak to you in the command centre yesterday.” Harry’s face went even paler than before at her words. 

“She went to the command centre last night?” Harry sounded broken. 

“Yes.” Mel’s eyes narrowed. “What happened, Harry?” he looked like he was about to be sick. 

“I… Macy- she. She must have walked in on-” 

“Walked in on what, Harry?” Mel could already feel the suspicion and anger building up within her. “What did she see?” 

He turned to face her fully, guilt all over his face already. “Mel, I-”

“Harry.” Mel didn’t know what he was going to say but judging from his behaviour all morning and Macy’s fighting and demeanour towards him it wasn’t going to be good. 

“I kissed Abigael, last night.” Seeing the anger and hurt on her face he reached for her but she took a step back from him. 

“Abigael Caine?” Mel was confused, angry and hurt. Going by pure instincts she decided to focus on her anger. “Abigael fucking Caine, Harry?” 

“Mel you have to understand-”

“Understand what, Harry? That she’s selfish? She doesn’t care about anybody but herself? Or should I understand that she’s a murderer, Harry?” He flinched at her words and Mel just scoffed. “That she admitted to killing multiple witches? That she killed her brother in front of us last night. That she tried to kill Macy. The woman you said you have feelings for.” Harry was silent. “Because I understand perfectly, Harry. I understand that that bitch is not to be trusted under any circumstances. The only person who needs to understand that Harry, is you.” She stopped for a moment and just shook her head, the hurt evident in her eyes. “I thought you were better than this, Harry. You’ve made this mistake before.” With a final hurt look at him, she shook her head again, grabbed the marble from her pocket and walked through the portal that opened up. 

Julian Shea. A genius tech guru turned social activist and Safespace investor. At least that’s what his Wikipedia page said. He has a Wikipedia page. Macy didn’t really know what to do with the information. It only created more questions for her. 

She had made her way and showered before doing her ‘deep dive’ internet search of Julian Shea.

Julian partially owned Safespace. That technically made him Maggie’s boss. And the guy who could easily close down Spellbound Botanica, effectively hurting not just Mel but Kat too.

But would he? If he found out the truth about the sisters, would he go that far? Macy wanted to think that he was too nice to do that but the truth was she really didn’t know the man. He really had complete control over them, Macy especially considering she was the one who got them into this mess in the first place, and he didn’t even know it yet. 

He wouldn’t ever know it if they all played their cards right. 

Macy placed her phone down, placed her head in her hands and groaned. She couldn’t believe she had gotten them all in such a predicament. She was supposed to be the overly cautious. The one who always though before she jumped. Carefully and meticulously planned almost every detail in her life but here they were. Potentially at the mercy of a millionaire philanthropist all because of Macy’s impulsiveness. 

She really had chosen the right time to start throwing caution to the wind. 

She didn’t know how she would explain this to her sisters. Sorry guys, I may have blown all our covers because I had a tantrum over our whitelighter not liking me and told a stranger almost all of our secrets. Macy had never felt more stupid. 

Shaking her head at the mess she had created she continued to scroll through his information page. He had a plethora of tech accolades from his years in the industry. He seemed to have made waves in his new job as well, having donated to multiple charities across the world which had then been able to make big impacts. It now looked like he wanted to take a slightly different approach to his social activism which resulted in his investment in Safespace. 

Going off of Wikipedia page and just onto the regular google search Macy found an endless number of articles describing his brilliance, kindness and it seems some journalists weren’t able to resist writing a few pieces on his looks either. Macy didn’t know why her face heated at that. 

Macy spent the next half an hour lying in bed, reading through article upon article on the man. If she was honest he seemed like an amazing man and her own personal experiences with him only further supported her thinking. After reading the third Buzzfeed article on why Julian Shea made the perfect bachelor (for scientific evidence on his character), Macy decided that someone of his calibre couldn’t possibly care about the lives of two random people who worked for him and their sister. She decided that whilst he was a potential threat to them and their lives in Seattle he probably wasn’t an immediate threat. She would keep a close eye on him but for the most part hoped that this was a problem that could solve itself.

It wasn’t her usual way of operating but on the growing list of concerns her family was facing she decided this could be one that could be ranked a lower level, non-immediate threat. 

Mel was already almost at the top of the stairs when she heard Harry orb into the command centre. 

“Mel! Please wait.” He sounded desperate and it only made her angrier. 

She whipped around and served him her worst glare. “No, Harry. I don’t even want to talk to you right now.” She was about to open the door when she decided she had to say more. The hurt puppy look on his face didn’t make her any less angry. “If you don’t like Macy anymore, that’s fine Harry. If you wanted to find someone else, fine, whatever. But Abigael Caine? That’s disrespectful to all three of us. She hasn’t once hesitated to hurt us in anyway she can.” 

“Yesterday she saved-”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence. You're a fool to believe that her actions yesterday weren’t a part of whatever grand plan she has. Everything she has ever done has been to help herself. I can’t believe you can’t see that.”

She left Harry speechless in the room as she slammed the door shut between them. 

Mel was sure she looked like a petulant child as she stormed her way through Safe Space to Spellbound Botanica. She must have looked ridiculous angrily unlocking the shop and setting up for the day but she didn’t care. She was just so angry at Harry and couldn’t believe that he would do that to all of them. 

With all of their histories with Abigael Mel was just shocked that Harry could turn around and go making out with a witch killing demon. Wasn’t his whole thing to protect witches? Not to defend and kiss those who harm them.

“Whoa, what’s got you angrily counting money?” She hadn’t even heard Maggie enter the shop before she had spoken. 

“I hate men. I hate straight white men who can’t think with anything but what’s in their pants.” 

“Okay… something’s happened.” Maggie walked to her side of the counter and sat on the high stool. “What happened? Did everything work out with the witch?”

“The witch is fine.” Mel shoved the money into the register and slammed it shut. “Harry is the problem. Harry and Abigael more specifically.” 

“What?” Maggie looked confused. 

“Our whitelighter kissed Abigael last night.” Mel saw the exact moment the words registered to Maggie as the hurt overtook her face. 

“What?” the word a broken whisper. “Why would he… why would Harry…?” Maggie looked up at Mel, obviously searching for the answer in her eyes. 

“I don’t know, Maggs. I just know that he did and Macy walked in on it.” 

“Oh god, poor Macy…” Maggie got up and slowly started pacing. “But it doesn’t make any sense. He said he had feelings for Macy, not Abigael.” 

“Yes well, that didn’t stop him from locking lips with the demon who tried to kill her.” 

“Mel, there has to be some kind of explanation.”

“Yes, Maggie, there is. Men are selfish and are evidently more interested in thinking with their dicks than the feelings of those they supposedly consider family.” 

Maggie shook her head. “But Harry…” she started fidgeting with her necklace. “Last year with Charity. As soon as he found out about how she killed mom, he immediately left her. Why would he go after Abigael after all she’s done to us?”

“Obviously he only drops women after they’ve killed a Vera-Vaughn. An attempt and threats aren’t quite enough.” Mel’s foot was tapping against the floor against her will so she decided to start rearranging products on the shelves despite their already orderly state instead. 

“I just can’t believe that he would do this to us.” 

“Yeah well, people always find a way to surprise.” 

Maggie shook her head. They were both speechless. 

The silence was only broken by Maggie’s phone ringing. She looked down and sighed. “It’s Swan, I have to go.” She shook her head again. “Why does it feel like everything is falling apart?” she didn’t let Mel answer, just turning around and making her way out of the shop. “Hey, Swan. Yeah I'm on my…” her voice trailed off as she walked away, the door swinging and the bell ringing in her wake. 

Macy had just finished locking up Spellbound after the shift she had taken over from Mel earlier on in the day and was ready to make her way to bed when she got a message from Maggie. 

You done at SB yet?   
-Maggie 

Yes, are you finished work?   
-Macy 

Come to the bar   
-Maggie

Macy frowned, wondering what could have tipped Maggie over into drinking. She knew Maggie was obviously still struggling with Parker’s death but had thought that Maggie was done with drinking away and suppressing her feelings. That she had decided to face them head on. 

Had she maybe had to face Jordan alone and it hadn’t gone as expected? No, Macy thought, Maggie would have told them if she had. Regardless Macy made her way to the bar at a faster than usual pace.   
Maybe whatever was bothering Mel was bothering Maggie. When Macy had gone to takeover from Mel that afternoon, Mel was visibly angry and upset but when Macy questioned her she had looked at her like she was sad for Macy before just brushing her off and making her way out. Macy had even sent her a few text messages but Mel had responded with a quick I’m fine that was obviously a lie. Macy had been planning on questioning her when she got home but it would obviously have to wait. 

Maggie was sitting at the bar, slouched in the chair, sipping on a bright pink drink when Macy found her. Macy sat next to her and gave her a weak smile. 

“Hey, Maggs. How are you feeling?” Maggie shook her head.

“Terrible. Everything seems to be going wrong.” Macy sighed at her words. She couldn’t disagree with that. 

“I get what you mean.” Macy called the bartender and ordered a glass of red wine. “We can’t seem to catch a break, can we?”

“I know!” Maggie took a big sip of her drink. “Everything from moving to Seattle to Parker going crazy and then being murdered to Harry kissing Abigael. Everything just sucks.” 

“What?” Macy was surprised Maggie knew about Harry’s kiss with Abigael. 

Maggie turned in her seat to look at Macy full on. “Oh Mace…” she grabbed Macy’s hand and gently squeezed it. “Mel told me earlier. I’m so sorry.” The bartender quietly placed Macy’s drink in front of her and walked away, obviously not wanting to intrude on the moment. 

“Yes well,” Macy took a sip of her drink. “It was silly of me to even think I had a chance in the first place.” She shrugged and pretended it didn’t affect her but Maggie obviously wasn’t buying it. 

“No, it wasn’t! Macy, you deserve the world. And you deserve to be happy, whether on your own or with someone else.” 

“So do you, Maggie.” Macy placed her free hand on the hand Maggie had on top of hers. “I’m so sorry about how everything turned out with Parker.”

Maggie just shook her head. “It is what it is.” She gave Macy’s hand another firm squeeze before letting go. “I just can’t believe Harry would…” she couldn’t even finish what they both knew she was going to say. “After everything we’ve all been through with her. How could we have missed that?” 

“I don’t know. I guess he’s better at hiding things than we thought.”

“Or maybe we weren’t paying enough attention.” 

Maggie did have a point. Macy didn’t want to admit it but she did. They had all been caught up in their own lives that they hadn’t exactly been communicating the best. But still, they were family. She would have thought that they would be able to come to each other no matter what. Not jump into the arms of evil half demons. 

Macy just sighed. “I don’t know, Maggs. Maybe.” 

They sat in relative quiet, sipping their drinks, as they both got lost in their own thoughts. 

Maggie took a large gulp of the remainder of her drink before getting up. “I’m done for the night, you?” 

Macy got up, drink still in hand, and turned bumping into the person behind her, spilling all of her drink onto them. Macy gasped and put the glass on the counter whilst profusely apologising. “Oh my god, I am so sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was- Julian?” Macy was surprised to find that she had spilt red wine all over Julian. The man who technically kind of owns Safe Space, she reminded herself. “I am so sorry, Julian.” Macy took out the handkerchief from her pocket and started frantically dabbing at Julian’s chest. Luckily the wine had only spilt onto his blazer and had avoided his grey t-shirt. 

“Are you dabbing me with my own handkerchief, Miss Macy?” He asked, an amused smile on his face. 

“Oh god, this is embarrassing.” Macy could feel her face heat up and just wanted to disappear. “If you take off your blazer I can clean it for you right now.” 

“Asking me to undress?” Julian raised an eyebrow, the grin on his face only widening. “Why Miss Macy, at least ask me to dinner first.” 

Macy’s eyes widened at his words. “No, uh, I mean-” Macy was a stumbling mess. 

“Mr Shea?” Maggie spoke up after a few seconds of Macy’s silence. Macy and Julian both turned to look at her. 

“Hello. And you are?” he lifted his hand to shake hers only showing all three that Macy’s hand was still pressed to his chest. With a stumbled apology Macy quickly dropped her hand. 

“Maggie.” She gave his hand a firm shake. “I’m the assistant manager here.” He nodded immediately as recognition sparked in his eyes. 

“Ah, yes, Maggie Vera, right? I do believe we missed you at this morning’s meeting.” 

“Oh,” Maggie seemed as surprised as Macy that Julian knew who she was. “Um, I’m usually not a part of those meetings, so I wasn’t told I had to be there.”

“That’s alright Miss Vera,” Julian gave her a smile and a shrug. “I’ll add your name to the list, you’ll be notified next time.” He gave a wink and Maggie didn’t really know how to react so just smiled. 

“Oh, um, thank you.” During their interaction neither noticed Macy turn around to speak to the bartender. “Uh, how do you know Macy?”   
Macy whipped around when she heard Maggie’s question. 

“I met Miss Macy this morning, she’s an impressive fighter.” He gave Macy a cheeky wink. 

“Um, cool.” Maggie didn’t really know what to say to that. “Well um, I’ll leave you to talk for a little bit. Mace, I’ll be in my office when you're ready to go.” 

“Oh, I won’t be-” Macy was about to tell her that she wouldn’t be long enough that Maggie would need to wait but Maggie had already walked away. 

“Here you go.” The bartender placed a large bottle of vinegar and a beaker of what she assumed was the baking soda she had asked for before walking away. 

“And this is?” Julian still had that amused look on his face. 

“Well I did say I could clean your blazer for you now if you wanted?” Macy now felt a little ridiculous offering but Julian just grinned. 

He took off his blazer and placed it on the bar, then leaned against it. Macy took that as confirmation and made quick work of making a paste from the baking soda and vinegar before applying it to the stained parts of his blazer.

“You own Safe Space.” Macy couldn’t tell if that was a statement or a question. 

“I’m more of an investor.” He shrugged. “Did you ask around?” there was a glint in his eyes as he asked this. 

“No, I um, I looked you up.” She avoided eye contact with him and started scrubbing at a stained spot on the blazer. 

“Really now?” The smile on his face was huge. “What did you find in your search?” 

Macy put down the little green makeshift spatula, leaving the scrub to do its magic on the stains. 

“You’re some kind of tech genius.” Macy looked up at him. “What made you stop and become an activist?” 

“I couldn’t just sit back as the world continued to go shit anymore. Decided I’d try to help in any way I can.” He shrugged nonchalantly. 

“Just like that?” she found it hard to believe he would just walk away from all of the nice things his previous life had offered him. 

“Just like that.” He connected his hands in front of him. “And what about you, Miss Macy?” 

“What about me?” 

“I won’t lie, I tried to do my own research about you.” Macy got nervous now. Did he find out that she had (even if it wasn’t on purpose) faked her own death? “You don’t own any of the businesses here, and   
I couldn’t find your name in the system. But you did seem pretty sure we’d run into each other here.” His head was tilted to the side in question. 

“Oh.” Macy tried to not show her relief so as not to look any more suspicious. “I occasionally take a shift or two for my sister. She runs Spellbound Botanica.” 

“Ah, Mel Vera, correct?” Macy nodded, a little unnerved at his ability to remember so many of his employee’s and tenants’ names. “She’s currently running it for Katrina Chandra, right?” 

“Yes, actually.” 

“Ah, great. A Macy mystery solved.” He had that glint in his eyes again.

“Um, I guess so.” Knowing that he was more curious about her than she initially anticipated made Macy a little nervous. “How do you even remember that?” Julian smiled as Macy picked up the spatula and started to scrape off the vinegar and baking soda scrub from his jacket. 

“I like to know the people in my building.” He shrugged. 

“I thought you said you didn’t own Safe Space.” Macy couldn’t help but smile a little at the laugh he let out. 

“Okay, you caught me. I'm an investor and I'm currently running it.” The smile on his face widened. “What about you, Miss Macy? What do you do when you're not occasionally taking a shift over at Spellbound Botanica?” 

Macy placed the spatula back into the beaker having successfully removed the scrub off of Julian’s blazer. “Just put this through the wash and it should be good as new.” She folded it in half and slid it over to him. 

“Thank you.” 

“Well, it was my fault in the first place.” She shrugged. 

“I’m glad you spilt your red wine on me, Miss Macy?” at Macy’s arched eyebrow he gave a little laugh. “It gave me an excuse to speak to you again.” 

“Oh.” Macy felt her face heat up again. 

“You didn’t answer my question.” 

“Oh, well, I don’t really do much else.” Macy was trying to be as vague as possible; she couldn’t make the same mistake as this morning. 

“Oh, somehow I know that’s not quite true. You don’t strike me as the sit around at home kind of woman.” He swiped his thumb over his bottom lip. 

“I was a geneticist.” Do you not learn? She didn’t know why she had told him when she had just promised herself that she wouldn’t let him know too much else about herself. 

“Wow, smart, charming and beautiful? Miss Macy you might just steal my heart simply by existing.” Macy felt her face heat up again and was glad that the blush wasn’t visible on her. 

“Well, I'm not a geneticist anymore.” Can you not keep your mouth shut around this man?

“Why not?” 

“I’m going through a career change myself.” She shrugged. Sure, it wasn’t voluntary but it still was a change. “Still deciding what to do next.” 

“Well you have gone through a lot of change in the past year. I can’t blame you for wanting a change of job along with the change of scenery.” He took her hand between his own and comfortingly stroked over her knuckles. She internally grimaced realising she had forgotten that she had told him that detail. 

“Yes, well…” Macy didn’t know what else to say. She and Julian just found themselves looking at each other. She couldn’t quite tell what he was thinking but whatever it was, and whatever he was seeing on her face made him smile. 

He has a nice smile. 

“I hate to walk away from a beautiful woman twice in the same day but it’s getting late and I should probably let you get back to your night.” Macy gulped at his words. 

“Um, probably, yes.” She didn’t walk away. 

“May I kiss your hand, Miss Macy?” He was stroking her knuckles again. 

“Yes.” Macy didn’t know why she said yes. She just did. 

Slowly, almost like he was savouring such a simple motion, he placed his lips to the skin on the back of her hand, not breaking eye contact with her once. Her skin prickled and heated slightly where his lips touched. His lips lingered on her skin for a few seconds before gently exhaling and then letting go of her hand. 

He was about to say something before his eyes flickered behind her. “Is that your not Jordan family friend?” Macy looked back and lo and behold there was Harry looking at her and Julian, a hurt look on his face. 

“Yes it is.” Macy turned to face Julian again. “I probably really should go.” 

“Despite my earlier statements this morning, I do hope to speak to you again Miss Macy.” He gave her a smile, a wink then an overly exaggerated bow and once again was gone as quickly as he had arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't actually know how to remove a stain I was just trying to incorporate the promo pic in this. don't actually use any of this advice. it was a plot device okay!  
> hope yall enjoyed, again sorry for the mistakes.


End file.
